Put the Brakes on Shopping Cart Abandonment

Online sellers are spending millions of dollars to attract shoppers to their websites only to watch them walk away from billions of dollars in purchases. Researchers estimate that nearly 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned each year representing $3 trillion in unrealized sales.

Here’s a look at some of the ways you can cut down the number of abandoned carts at your checkout counter.

Don’t Build In Obstacles to Sales

While “registration” and other data collection can gather valuable marketing information, don’t require it to make a purchase because 25% of people simply won’t do it. Many consider it intrusive and an invitation for spam and other sorts of pestering. The fewer things they have to enter, the more likely they are to complete the sale.

Allow shoppers to elect to check out as a guest. If the shopping experience is pleasant enough and you sell what the buyers want, it is likely shoppers will return to your site for repeat purchases.

Make it easy to change orders before checkout and offer payment options. MasterCard and Visa may account for the bulk of payments, but American Express and PayPal run a close second. Don’t shut those users out.

Finally, test and retest your site on all types of devices to make sure it functions properly and is easy to use on a desktop, tablet and phone.

Optimize Your Content for Various Platforms

If you haven’t launched a mobile-friendly site yet, you’re losing sales. Online sales from mobile devices accounted for more than 50% of purchases for the first time in 2014 and continue to grow rapidly. Keep forms large enough for buyers over 40 (who wear reading glasses) to see.

Make Your Customer Comfortable With Their Purchase

Trust is established before customers get to the checkout stand. Good descriptions and quality images of products, clear statements of shipping costs, payment methods and security protections along with easy-to-understand warranties and return policies make customers ready to buy when they get to checkout. Put your street address and telephone number plus email on your website. It’s proven that if you want your location to remain undisclosed, its likely potential customers will go elsewhere.

Explain your policies thoroughly. More shoppers abandon carts because of last-minute surprises like unexpected shipping costs than any other reason.

Send E-Mail Reminders

Remind would-be buyers that they’ve left items in their shopping cart. As many as 29% of shoppers who abandon carts will complete the purchase if reminded promptly by email. Sooner is better; studies show significantly better results from reminders sent 6 hours after the cart is abandoned compared to mail sent after 24 hours. Customized mail gets better response than boilerplate forms, too, because customers want to think they’re special.

Don’t waste your SEO efforts by driving customers away. The designers and developers at the Unleaded Group have been building industry-leading ecommerce Magento websites since Magento was in Beta Test mode. Whether it’s designing a follow-up system for abandoned carts or an easy-to-use site that’s optimized for mobile devices, we deliver proven, tested results with creativity, precision, and ease of use that sets you apart from the competition.

For complete details on the many ways The Unleaded Group works with our clients to build a web presence that stands apart from the crowded ecommerce marketplace, browse our website, call us toll-free at 855.865.3233, or drop us an email and we’ll send you a free quote for designing a site that does the job you need.

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